After listening to his friends essentially freak the fuck out about the whole him-kissing-Lily thing for at least 15 minutes, James finally spoke.

"I just don't think she likes me. I definitely felt like I pushed her into kissing me. I mean, I was the one who started it. She didn't stop it, but-"

"Mate, shut the fuck up a second," Sirius interrupted. "I have asked questions that you have yet to answer, and they are important questions that can possibly help ease your worry. So go, answer away."

"I'll be really honest, Pads, I sort of tuned you out about 10 minutes ago," James confessed.

Sirius groaned. "Fucking hell, alright, here we go. Did she kiss you back, how long did it last, how did she react, was there chemistry, did she fight it, who ended it, what did you say afterwards, how did you say goodbye, and did you get to touch her arse or boobs?"

"For god's sake, Sirius."

"Need to know."

"I don't know how long we kissed for. A while. It was great, I'll be honest, lots of, erm, passion? I guess? She seemed really into it but then when I drew back finally, she kind of just stared at me and then walked out of the room. And no, I didn't touch her arse or boobs, you pervert," James finished with a scowl at his best friend.

Sirius narrowed his eyes in thought. "Interesting."

"Sounds hopeful to me," Peter chimed in. "There's potential here."

James groaned again, stuffing his mouth full of food, hoping that if he wasn't able to talk, the conversation would end. He stole another glance at the beautiful redhead sitting only 15 feet away. Like every other time he had looked over at her that morning, the roar of the Great Hall seemed to fade away, his friends' chatter was indistinguishable, and all he could do was study the lines of her face, the way her hair fell into her eyes, and the delicacy of her hands as she poured sugar into her tea. She took three sugars. Lots of milk. Same as him.

Then she looked in his direction, watching Sirius wave his arms frantically, then observing Peter refilling his coffee, and then finally settling on James himself. Their eyes met, and they just kind of stayed there for a while. He noticed the corners of her mouth tugging upwards. She was smiling at him. She didn't hate him. Then she blinked several times and quickly looked back at her plate. Maybe she did hate him after all.

A hand waving in the air directly in front of his eyes snapped him out of his daze, and he looked back over at his friends, who were staring at him with fascination and amusement.

Sirius began to laugh. "You've got it baaaaad, mate."

A/N: Just a short James chapter! Hope you enjoyed it :)

-Chloe